Solutions for Singers: Tools for Performers and Teachers / Edition 1

by Richard Miller

Overview

While many texts and courses on the art of singing offer comprehensive overviews of technique and performance, few have time to delve into the specific questions they spawn. Solutions for Singers explores these unanswered questions, filling in gaps that professional performers, students of singing, and voice teachers have long sought to close.

Fielding over 200 questions, distinguished teacher and performer Richard Miller tackles problems raised during hundreds of his master classes and pedagogy courses. He deliberately avoids abstract generalities, concentrating instead on specific, recurring questions: What are some good exercises to loosen or relax tension in the back of the tongue? Do you apply the same principles regarding breathing to a younger student that you do to older students? What is meant by voiced and unvoiced consonants? Is there a female falsetto? Through such specialized questions, Miller probes the very essence of artistic expression.

The questions are organized under ten broad topics, which Miller considers from various angles. He couples traditional and modern philosophies to present the most relevant and precise solutions. The result is an invaluable handbook for singers, which, read either sequentially or selectively, provides a unique and pragmatic approach to vocal artistry and technique.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195160055
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	01/08/2004
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	9.40(w) x 6.50(h) x 0.82(d)
Lexile:	1270L (what's this?)

About the Author

Richard Miller has had a distinguished international performance opera and recital career, is a celebrated masterclass presenter, vocal researcher, competition adjudicator, and prolific author.

Table of Contents

1	Breath Management
	Appoggio versus Belly Breathing (Bauchaussenstutz)	1
	Protruding the Stomach Wall	4
	How Long Should It Take to Acquire the Appoggio?	5
	Routining the Onset, Silent Breathing Exercises, and the Farinelli Maneuver	5
	The Short Onset	8
	Appoggio della Nucca	8
	Explaining the Appoggio to Junior and Senior High School Students	10
	La Lotta Vocale	11
	Rigidity in the Support Mechanism	12
	Resonator/Larynx/Breath	12
	Singing on the Gesture of Inhalation	13
	Atmospheric Pressure and the Singing Voice	14
	The Breath-Management Candle Test	14
	Expelling Air from the Lungs	16
	Leaning on the Breath	17
	Holding the Breath	17
	Natural Breathing	18
	Tanking up for Long Phrases	21
	Pressed Phonation	21
	Increasing Energy but Not Volume	23
	Upper-Dorsal Breathing	23
	Nose Breathing	25
	Air Pressure Levels in High and Low Singing	26
	Correcting High-Breath Emission Levels in Young Female Voices	26
	Singing on the Breath	27
	Breathy Singing in Youthful Female Upper Range	28
	Energy Levels in Tenor and Baritone Voices	28
	Precision in the Release	31
	Sensation Associated with Melismatic Movement (the Bouncing Epigastrium)	31
	Abdominal-Wall Muscle Contact	34
2	Posture
	Always Noble and Axial?	35
	Breaking Stance and Shifting the Body Weight	36
	The Swayback Singer	37
	The Falling Sternum	39
	The Garcia Position	39
	Singing in the Supine Position	41
	Sitting or Standing to Vocalize?	42
	Physical Movement during Singing	42
	Neck Tension	44
	Can the Head Be Held Too Low?	45
	Neck Protrusions during Singing	45
3	Laryngeal and Intralaryngeal Function
	Myoelastic/Aerodynamic Source of Vocal-Fold Vibration	47
	Abduction and Adduction	48
	Heavy and Light Laryngeal Mechanisms	50
	False Vocal Folds	51
	Epiglottic Behavior during Singing	54
	The Trachea as a Resonator	55
	Elevating and Lowering the Larynx	55
	Separating the Thyroid and Cricoid Cartilages?	58
	Flow Phonation	59
	Adding Air to Pressed Phonation	60
	Damping	61
4	Resonance Balancing
	The Vocal Tract	63
	Chiaroscuro	63
	Vowel Definition and the IPA Symbols	65
	Keeping Uniformity of Timbre throughout the Changing Vowel Spectrum	66
	Voce Aperta and Voce Chiusa	67
	The Role of Sensation in Singing	68
	Sympathetic Vibration	69
	Ear-Cupping as an Acoustic Device	70
	Formant Information. Why?	72
	Maintaining the Male 3K (3000 Hz) Factor in Back Vowels	73
	Maintaining the First Formant (the Oscuro Factor) in Female High Range	74
	Falling Back on the Vowel /a/	75
	Dealing with the Vowel /u/	76
	Using the Good Vowel /u/	77
	Using Phonetic /oe/ and /o/ Mixtures as Transition Vowels	78
	Using /ae/ as Pedagogic Assist in Resonance Balancing	79
	L'imposto	80
	Forward Placement	81
	Tenor and Baritone Resonances	82
	Una Bocca Raccolta	83
	Si Canta come Si Parla; Chi Pronuncia Bene Canta Bene	84
	The Idiot Jaw	84
	Three Fingers in the Mouth	85
	Knodel	87
	Pulling Down on the Jaw	87
	Relaxing the Tight Jaw	88
	TMJ and the Singing Voice	89
	Submandibular Muscles	90
	Mouth Shapes in High Piano and Forte	91
	Sfogato Timbre	91
	Using the Zygomatic Muscles	92
	Elevating the Fascia of the Cheek Region	93
	Faucial Arch	94
	Upper-Lip Tension	95
	Directing Attention to the Tongue	95
	Learned, Habitual, or Natural Tongue Positions?	96
	Tongue-Point Trill	97
	Lip Trilling	98
	External-Frame Support and the Trembling Jaw and Tongue	99
	Back Tongue Tension	102
	Retroflex Tongue	103
	Structure of the Nose	105
	Flaring the Nostrils and Wrinkling the Forehead	106
	The Scotch Tape Threat	108
	Making Space in the Throat?	108
	Throat Sensation during Singing	109
5	Nasal Continuants and Nonnasal Consonants
	IPA Symbols for Consonants	111
	Correcting Nasality	112
	Velum Lowering	112
	Nasals Followed by Vowels	113
	Duration of Sung French Nasals	114
	Voiced and Nonvoiced Consonant Pairs	115
	Using Pilot Consonants for Adjusting the Resonator Tract	115
	Anticipatory Consonants	116
	Consonant Doubling	118
	Consonants as Assists in Creating Legato	118
	Ich and Ach	119
	Learning to Flip and to Roll the /r/ Phoneme	120
6	The Phenomenon of Vibrato
	Free-Swinging Vibrancy	121
	Identifying and Steadying Vibrato Rate	122
	Coloratura and Vibrato	122
	Trill	123
	Trillo	124
	Vibrato in the Young Singer	125
	Spectrographic Vibrato Display	126
	Using Straight Tone as a Pedagogic Tool	126
	Is There a Germanic versus an Italianate Vibrato Rate?	127
7	Registration
	Fach Designations in the Young Male Voice	129
	Evaluating Fach Change from Baritone to Tenor	132
	Chest Voice in the Low-Voiced Male	134
	Tension Buildup during Soprano High-Lying Phrases	135
	Narrowing at the Passaggio	136
	Developing Upper Range	137
	Low-Range Loss in the Female Voice after High-Range Singing	138
	How Much Female Chest Is Too Much?	140
	Early Steps for Developing Female Chest Voice	140
	Weak Spots in the Female Scale	141
	Flageolet	142
	The Role of Falsetto in the Tenor Voice	143
	Is There a Female Falsetto?	147
	Voce Finta	148
	Falsetto and Airflow	149
	More on Falsetto	149
	Vocal Glissando (Extended Portamento)	150
	Mezza Voce	151
	Belting	151
	Register Separation	152
	Countertenoring	153
	Strohbass	156
	Vocal Fry	157
	Baryton Martin	158
	Young Tenors and Upper Range	158
	Laryngeal Elevation and Throat Tension at the Tenor Secondo Passaggio	159
	Laryngeal Elevation at the Baritone Primo Passaggio	160
	Early Covering in the Young Male Voice	160
	Vowel Modification at the Male Passaggio	162
	Extending the Low Range in Young Male Voices	163
	Inserted /h/ ("ha") in High-Lying Intervallic Tenor Leaps	164
	Cracking in Male Voices	165
	Intermittent Cracking on the Male High Note	166
8	Healthy Singing
	The Singing Athlete	169
	Increasing the Size of the Voice	172
	Dreadful Speaking Voices	173
	Obesity and the Appoggio	174
	Weight Reduction and the Singing Voice	175
	Water Babies	176
	Flushing of the Face and Neck	177
	Voice Rest? When? How Long?	178
	Marking	179
	Sensation of Phlegm at the Male Secondo Passaggio	180
	Gargling	180
	Nasal Irrigation	181
	Inhaling Steam	181
	Tea, Honey, and Lemon	182
	Vocal Skill and Vocal Longevity	183
9	Pedagogy Issues
	Establishing or Altering a Tonal Concept	187
	Syntax of Voice Technique	189
	National Tonal Preferences	190
	American School/American Sound?	192
	Literature Styles and Voice Technique	193
	The Reluctant Student	195
	What Is the Best Musical Training for a Singer?	197
	Repertoire for Beginners	199
	Musically Unmusical	199
	The Second Half of the Note	201
	Exchange of Studio Information	201
	Pedagogic Justification	204
	Nurturing the Singing Instrument	206
	Teaching as Learning	208
	Teaching Young Voices	208
	Is One Technique Possible for All?	209
	Dissimilar Voice Techniques in Performance	211
	Completing the Technical Work	212
	Uniting Technique and Literature	213
	Female and Male Voice Modeling	214
	Syntactic Doubling in Italian	215
	Soprano and Mezzo-Soprano Instruction	216
	Searching for a New Voice Teacher	217
	Is There a Racial Sound in Classically Trained African American Singers?	218
	How Much Should a Singer Know?	222
10	Performance Concerns
	Learning to Portray Emotion	225
	Internal and External Listening	227
	The Problem of Faulty Intonation	228
	Flatting on Final Descending Notes	229
	Amplification of Opera Performance	230
	Rehearsal Room versus Hall Dynamics	231
	The Relativity of Voice Dynamics	231
	Messa di Voce	232
	Prephonatory Tuning	233
	Oratorio versus Opera	234
	Performance Attire	235
	Performance-Day Diet	236
	Solo Singer in a Choral Setting	237
	Tenor Choral Falsetto	238
	British Treble Choral Tradition	240
	Gesticulation in Singing, and the Kinesthetic Sense	241
	Reasonable Warm-up Time	243
	Flying on Automatic Pilot	244
	The Broadway Sound	245
	Holistic Singing	247
	Glossary of Terms	249
Appendix I.	Pitch Designations	257
Appendix II.	IPA Symbols for Vowels, Semivowels, and French Nasal Vowel Sounds	259
Appendix III.	IPA Symbols for Consonant Sounds	261
Appendix IV.	Repertoire for Younger or Beginning Singers	263
	Select Bibliography	273
	Index	281

Editorial Reviews

"Miller's contributions to the literature of voice pedagogy are often described with superlatives. Solutions for Singers is no exception. By answering myriad specific questions about the vocal art in a knowledgeable and practical manner, Miller has provided voice teachers and singers with an outstanding resource in the pursuit of beautiful, efficient singing."—Journal of Singing

"How would you like to spend a day posing questions and receiving answers with one of the world's most influential voice pedagogues? Richard Miller's latest book, Solutions for Singers, provides just such an opportunity. Written in his clear and engaging style, Miller answers questions gathered from members of his weeklong classes devoted to the art of singing. Highly informative on a wide variety of subjects, Solutions for Singers is written in a style accessible to both the novice and advanced singer and/or voice teacher."—William McIver, Professor of Voice, Eastman School of Music and former NATS President

"Miller combines practical how-to responses with the rigorous thought about history and science that he applies to all of his professional endeavors—an immensely helpful method. Miller rounds out the volume with a glossary, appendixes clarifying pitch designation and International Phonetic Alphabet symbols, a repertoire of songs appropriate for young singers, and a lengthy select biography. Highly recommended."—CHOICE

"We who love singing, and wonder at the mysteries surrounding the production of that marvel of Nature, now have in Richard Miller's newest book—a wellspring of answers to questions asked most frequently by those of us who seek vocal wisdom. This is a welcome addition to Richard Miller's outstanding legacy. It is written in a manner that is accessible, and will prove of lasting value to professional singers, teachers of singing, and amateur performers."—George Shirley, The Joseph Edgar Maddy Distinguished University Professor of Music and Director of the Vocal Arts Division, The University of Michigan School of Music; leading tenor, The Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera, and Deutsche Oper

"With his usual perception and clarity, Richard Miller has provided answers to a wide range of questions from singers and teachers. This book is filled with information you will not find anywhere else, while at the same time it provides relatively simple explanations about the basic areas of respiration, phonation and resonance. This is an excellent resource for all singers and teachers."—Paul Kiesgen, Chairman, Voice Department, Indiana University School of Music

From the Publisher